Oliver Stone Accuses Facebook, Google of ‘Collaborating’ With U.S. Government in Snowden Case

Filmmaker Oliver Stone railed against the U.S. government, technology giants and the presidential candidates of both parties during a Wednesday press junket in France for his upcoming Edward Snowden biopic.

During an appearance at Cannes Lions to promote Snowden, Stone reportedly accused technology giants including Facebook, Google and Microsoft of “collaborating” with the U.S. government in the notorious ex-NSA contractor’s case.

advertisement

“It’s a form of fascism — the sovereignty of the state versus the sovereignty of the individual,” Stone said, according to AdWeek. “It’s the reverse of the way this country was founded.”

The 69-year-old three-time Oscar-winner also piled on both political parties’ presumptive presidential nominees, accusing Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton of supporting what he called “the surveillance state.”

The National Security Agency’s (NSA) secret domestic surveillance program “was not even mentioned in the debates; both candidates are for it—and want more of it, it seems. Nor have they discussed climate control, nor the Earth’s fate, nor the wars and the U.S.’s involvement in them, nor the buildup of our military,” Stone said.

The controversial director’s upcoming biopic Snowden tells the story of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked classified details of the U.S. government’s surveillance programs in 2013 before fleeing the country and taking asylum in Russia.

Stone previously revealed that he held secret meetings with Snowden in Russia while preparing the biopic. At one point, the director said, he became so fearful of interference from the National Security Agency that he moved the film’s entire production from the United States to Germany.

When asked his thoughts on Trump, Stone dodged the question and instead bashed both Clinton and the GOP White House hopeful.

“Both candidates represent the system and there’s no alternative of voices in the American scene,” Stone said. “There’s this form of sanitized politics, and we don’t talk about that.”

Stone also expressed doubts about President Obama’s “conviction” as it relates to the U.S. surveillance programs.

“I don’t know that he’s a man of conviction,” he said, adding that “Snowden’s revelations are not a campaign issue.”

Stone also mentioned that there is a scene in his upcoming film that features a clip of Trump calling for Snowden’s execution.